In practice, medical instruments having an instrument head that can be used by a surgeon or by any other person providing medical treatment to achieve physical effects on human or animal patients are known, such effects include, for example, the changing, dividing or ablating of tissue. Instruments are known, where the instrument head used must be supplied with a fluid, e.g., a cryogenic fluid, in order to bring about the desired physical effect. To accomplish this, the instrument head must include a supply line that connects the instrument head with a male instrument connector. The male instrument connector is adapted to a medical apparatus that supplies the instrument with the desired media, in particular fluids, as well as with electrical parameters. To this extent, the male instrument connector includes at least one male fluid connector that can be connected to a corresponding female connector on the apparatus. In addition, the male connector is usually rotation-symmetrically configured and includes a lateral venting opening, from which fluids that have the potential to become liberated due to leaks within the supply line can be discharged without risk. In doing so, undesirable effects such as, e.g., the inflation of a protective sleeve of the supply line, are prevented.
The male instrument connector must satisfy a multitude of requirements. For example, the fluids to be supplied to the instrument head are frequently under considerable pressure. These fluids must not escape in an uncontrolled manner. Likewise, a sudden pressure reduction of the fluids that are used can result in the development of extreme cold and thus in the risk of injuries. Therefore, conventional male instrument connectors are mostly manufactured of robust, complex rotating elements, which is expensive.
Furthermore, the sterilization of the instruments must be taken into consideration in instruments that are to be used more than once. In this case, the sterilization applies to all of the surfaces that are accessible from the outside. However, washing fluids, rinsing fluids, or the like must be prevented from penetrating into the fluid channels of the instrument because residues of such washing or rinsing fluids, should they remain in the instrument may lead to considerable disruptions of the instrument and ultimately can harm the patient.